Commonwealth Financial Network

Mainstays of the sector like Commonwealth, Cambridge and Northwestern Mutual are contributing to it, but smaller firms are also driving change.

Despite a great year, firms don't see fit to rest on their laurels. Instead, they're preparing and adjusting to falling traditional revenue and rising expenses.

This interactive tool provides the full collection of data from Financial Planning's 34th annual study of the largest firms in the space.

With transparency about conflicts on the rise even as it varies by firm, critics question whether clients really understand complicated technical documents.

The husband-wife team left LPL after 11 years with an eye toward its rival’s tech and service offerings.

The new standalone firm’s first licensing agreement would bring MassMutual’s 9,000 reps on to the platform developed by the No. 4 IBD.

Financial advisors and their firms are providing zero-interest loans, free counseling and fresh ideas for some 800,000 federal workers going without pay.

The five new advisors kicked off recruiting in 2019 for the No. 4 IBD after it set a record in the previous year.

The growing number of commission-free planners at IBDs doesn't necessarily fit the industry’s accepted definition, or its traditional categories.

“I don’t want to call a helpline, I want a partnership,” the advisor says of her move to the firm, which expects to hit record gross recruited production.

The 50 largest teams and OSJs to change their affiliations show both the threat to incumbent firms posed by RIAs and the scale afforded by acquisitions.

The rarely dinged firm joined peers grappling with two issues: mutual fund fees and supervision of advisors who've been sanctioned multiple times.

Executives say valuing friendliness alongside other factors is helping to drive a record $66 million in incoming production this year.

Commonwealth Financial Network is helping advisors convert to full RIA status and, in the opinion of advisors and executives, shedding its traditional label.

The regulator is living up to its promise to overhaul exams and engage more — and one potential rule in the works would be “monumental," according to the IBD.

Being an independent advisor isn’t for everyone.

The former MetLife advisors had affiliated with three different IBDs over four years amid the increasing consolidation in the space.

Soon after shuffling C-suite, the independent broker-dealer brings on nine advisors while it continues hunt for a new CFO.

The ongoing shift away from commissionable products is driving major changes in the space.

The two LPL rivals show confidence in their current paths, but they both now have important vacancies to fill.